Watch Out Central Park, Pavement Returns With Loud Rock Blast

Pavement made a triumphant return
last night, more than 10 years after splitting.

The band is warming up for its September shows in New
York’s Central Park, which sold out in minutes. Yesterday’s
London O2 Brixton Academy concert gives a taste of what to
expect.

The five-piece group formed in California in 1989 and broke
up in 1999 after becoming one of the decade’s most influential
indie acts. It defines cult music with a dedicated following
similar to the Grateful Dead and Phish.

For the capacity crowd, the show is like meeting an old
lover, reviewing those irritating quirks and realizing that the
flame burns stronger than ever. Pavement plays two hours of
greatest hits and obscurities.

It was never the easiest of alternative bands, with lo-fi
recording and wrong-note riffs limiting mainstream appeal, while
winning fans such as Blur guitarist Graham Coxon.

Last night was the first of four sold-out dates. The tour
continues through Europe and the U.S. during the summer.

Songs are interrupted with blasts of fuzzy guitar noise and
deranged shouting from percussionist Bob Nastanovich. Loose
rhythms, bandied between Nastanovich and drummer Steve West,
shuffle out of kilter. The band, in jeans and T-shirts, bobble
along amiably.

“In the Mouth a Desert” still turns a schoolboy mistake on
the riff into something gorgeous. “Summer Babe” balances gentle
sentiment with a heavy wooze of distortion, the sound of sunny
afternoons happily blurred by cider.

Energetic songs like “Box Elder” and “Trigger Cut” provide
Pavement an opportunity to goof around as the audience breaks
into a healthy sweat. Singer-songwriter Stephen Malkmus perfects
the pop choruses of “Stereo” and “Cut Your Hair.”